Mark 1:9-15; Genesis 9:8-17; 1 Peter 3:18-22
The first Sunday of lent always begins with Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan and when we speak about Jesus’ temptation, usually the version that comes to our minds is either Matthew or Luke. Both give us a more complete version of this story. Both explain how Jesus was tempted and how He defended Himself. Mark’s, the one we read this morning seems to be only a summary compared to the other two. As it is usual in his gospel, Mark gets to the point, no details at all. In the synoptic gospels the story of Jesus in the wilderness is found between Jesus’ baptism and the beginning of His proclamation of the Good News, which in Mark’s gospel both stories are also a summary compared with Matthew and Luke.
Mark summarizes and connects three small stories and makes them one. By doing so, I believe, Mark wants to tell his community and us, that Jesus’ baptism and the proclamation of the Good News are part of His experience in the wilderness. They cannot, -according to what Mark is trying to tell us- be separated one from the other. Baptism, temptation, and proclamation are interconnected. Mark is also reminding his community and us that when Jesus was baptized, He was publicly recognized by God as his son. You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” The Father told Jesus.
Nevertheless, Jesus was loved by his father, this love was not an excuse for Jesus to feel comfortable; this love was not an excuse for the Father to place Jesus in an especial position where he could be out of danger, no, “At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan.” And if that were not enough, after forty days surrounded by the dangers of wild animals and without eating -as we learn from Matthew and Luke- right “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God’s kingdom. “The time has come; the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Today, the First Sunday of Lent, Mark is reminding us that even when the Father officially recognized Jesus as His son, Jesus had to live the reality of life: he was tempted, but God did not leave Him alone and with His help he defeated temptation. And right after that, he proclaimed the kingdom’s arrival. And with His proclamation, he challenged his audience to respond to his message in repentance and faith. “Repent and believe the Good News!” Jesus said. And that is what Lent is about. Lent is about repenting and believing in the good news! But in Mark’s version because of how he connects the three stories is also a time of remembering who we are and whose we are and to allow that knowledge to be expressed in all that we do. To be God’s son; to be led by the Spirit and the proclamation of God’s kingdom in the gospel of Mark are one unit.
Sisters and brothers, you are a daughter of God; you are a son of God and to be a daughter or a son of God has implications in everything we do and in how obedient we are to the Spirit of God. As God’s Children we are called to proclaim and live his kingdom, but between our call and proclamation we will have temptations. Satan will try to stop us. When those moments of temptation come, just remember who you are, remember whose you are, and who you belong to. When Martin Luther the great reformer of the church was fighting against temptations, he used to remind himself, “I am baptized! I am baptized!” and by repeating those words he rightly perceived the wonder and glory of his baptism.
If to be a daughter or a son of God has implications in what we do and how obedient we are to the Spirit of God, this Lent I would like to invite you not just to stop doing things as watching tv or turning your cell phone off or to give up chocolate as we usually do during Lent, but, do also things that will remind you of who you are; things that will help you to meditate in where the Spirit is leading you and consequently where the Spirit is leading us as Church. How can we do that? Every morning during Lent when you are in front of the mirror remind yourself who you are. Appropriate, make yours the words from the Father to Jesus: “you are my son; you are my daughter.” Because, if we are His children, we are also heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
During Lent when you pray do not call God, Almighty, Lord or my God, call Him Father. Because he is our Father; call him Father as Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer. And you might be able to listen His voice saying to you, “You are my Son, my daughter whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
This Lent when you pronounce your name do it followed by the adjective, son, or daughter of God. Jesus was known as Joshua ben Elohim, Jesus Son of God. John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” During Lent, brothers and sisters claim that right, live that right. And finally, during Lent meditate in where God will lead us in this year. So, after all this “time in the wilderness” is gone, we can come together to proclaim the Good News.
Church let us make of this season of Lent a time of rediscovering our identity and our call. Have a blessed Lent.